Convicted criminal accidentally given four days of freedom

ORLANDO, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - A convicted criminal turned himself into federal authorities on Monday, after he was accidentally given four days of freedom in the middle of a prison sentence.

Cedrick Gant, 29, walked out of the Brevard County Jail last Thursday, but he wasn’t supposed to be free. 

A few months ago, he was sentenced to 23 years in federal prison.

Documents show that his charges stem from a crime spree that spanned from Eustis to Apopka in 2017. 

Police say he held up two people with an assault weapon to try and steal their cars.

“He carjacked me at gunpoint while my wife and my son were in the house,” said Scott Young, one of the victims.

When Gant was released from jail last week, he got a notification.

“I’m mostly – there’s a big issue,” Young said. “There’s something wrong… That anybody would let this guy go, and how do I get it stopped? My biggest issue is, ‘Who do I call?'”

Young says he called every agency he could think of, but didn’t get anywhere. 

The, he called the News Station.

We found out that before Gant was sent to Brevard County to answer to some misdemeanor charges, he was behind bars in Lake County.

Lake County officials admit one of their employees had misread a document and crossed off that Gant was on a hold by U.S. Marshals.

“He did that without realizing that he had already been sentenced to 23 years on those federal charges, so it’s definitely a human mistake,” said Lake County Sheriff’s Office Lt. John Herrell.

So officials say when Gant got to Brevard County, those jail employees had no idea about the federal prison time and that’s why he was released.

“It concerned us. It alarmed us. We hate that it happened, but it’s a mistake and we are taking it seriously. We are going to look into it,” Herrell said.

U.S. Marshals say Gant turned himself in Monday afternoon. 

His freedom was short lived, but scary to Young.

“Nobody knows what he could have done. He got a get-out-of-jail-free-card. He could have went on a free for all. It could have been a lot worse than what it was. I’m very glad nothing else happened,” Young said.

He says there needs to be more safeguards in place so this doesn’t happen again.

U.S. Marshals have not said where Gant is, just that they have him and that he has more time to serve.